Vovinam athlete 'picks gold' for Nghe An sports

A difficult past

Nguyen Hai Lam was born into a poor family in Hung Nguyen district. The childhood of the boy born in 1993 was associated with the work of "selling his face to the ground, selling his back to the sky". One day he went to school, the other day Lam had to help his family with farm work. His family is considered one of the poorest households in the village. With the will not to stick to the poor farming profession like his parents, Lam decided to find a different direction for himself, hoping for a brighter future.

Nguyen Hai Lam won the 2019 National Vovinam Gold Medal. Photo: NVCC

Since childhood, the athlete from Hung Nguyen loved martial arts. That summer, Lam's school opened a martial arts class for students. Lam loved it very much, but because his family was poor, they did not have enough to eat, let alone dream of going to martial arts school. So the boy born in 1993 often sneaked out with his friends to imitate the movements that the teacher taught. Lam's love for martial arts grew day by day.

Until 2008, when he heard that his close friend had been accepted into the Pencak-Silat martial arts department of Nghe An Training and Sports Center, Lam asked his friend to take him to a martial arts class with the hope of testing his strength in this subject. Luckily, the 1993-born boy caught the eye of the center's coach. "The day I was accepted, I was very happy because I could live with my passion. And this is also the path for me to have a brighter future, and my parents will have less trouble raising me to study," Lam recounted.

Nguyen Hai Lam (left) with teammates and coach at the 2021 National Vovinam Strong Team Championship. Photo: NVCC

When he first started taking the Pencak-Silat class, Lam was not highly regarded because his appearance was very thin and frail. To overcome that, in addition to the hours spent practicing in class, Lam often stayed behind to practice bodybuilding. This was also a factor that helped the athlete become stronger, more resilient, and take better hits. In the early days of practice, Lam was quite shy and very weak in taking hits. The martial arts instructor of the center asked Lam: "You have to be strong, martial arts is not for the weak and timid..." Teacher Lam's advice was forever engraved in his mind and gradually he became the best taker in his class.

When Lam first started training, the diet for athletes was quite low. Each day, an athlete only received 40,000 VND, including food and training expenses. This amount of money was not enough to provide enough nutrition for athletes to train at high intensity.

Lam recalls: “Those days were very difficult, my parents were poor so they couldn’t give me money for extra food and drink, to have the strength to practice, we often had to owe the restaurant. I remember one day we owed so much that we hadn’t paid, the restaurant owner came all the way to the center. I and many other students had to hide from one room to another, many days later we were short of money and had to eat instant noodles to practice, those memories are unforgettable throughout my career. Thanks to those difficult days, they gave me more will to practice, helping me achieve more success in the future.”

"Sweet fruit" from efforts

Entering martial arts, he started with Pencak-Silat, but in early 2010, Nguyen Hai Lam was transferred toVovinam. Because at that time, Vietnamese traditional martial arts were lacking in the 60Kg weight class. There were many changes in both attack and defense techniques when entering the class, which once again forced Lam to make an effort to adapt quickly and catch up with the athletes in the class. After two months of training, Lam was sent to participate in the National Sports Festival. However, in the first match, he had to face an opponent who was too strong, more experienced and more classy than him. The young man from Hung Nguyen was knocked out by a punch to the face, causing him to be stunned and unable to continue competing. This was Lam's first and unforgettable defeat. Since that defeat, Lam has told himself that he will have to try harder and practice harder to be able to stand up stronger.

Nguyen Hai Lam won the 2021 National Vovinam Gold Medal. Photo: NVCC

During training, each weight loss session before a tournament is the most difficult time that every athlete must overcome if they want to succeed. Lam said: “Before each tournament, I have to try to lose about 7 to 8 kg. To be able to achieve such results requires perseverance and tremendous endurance from each athlete. There are many days when after training, I cannot eat rice and feel nauseous, my body is very tired. But to be successful, athletes must overcome such obstacles.”

Nguyen Hai Lam's first sweet fruit was in 2013, when he participated in the National Vovinam Championship. With the coach's good will and tactics, the boy born in 1993 excellently won against all opponents and won the Gold Medal.

In the following years, Nguyen Hai Lam was always a “golden” athlete in Vovinam for Nghe An sports. He won 1 gold medal at the National Sports Festival, 3 gold medals at the National Championship, 5 gold medals at Cup competitions and many other medals. Now Lam is still working hard every day to continue to add his name to the golden achievements of the province’s sports.

Nguyen Hai Lam won the 2020 National Vovinam Gold Medal. Photo: NVCC

If he could choose again, Lam would still affirm that sports is the right path because it has brought him a bright future like now. It is not only the path that led the young man from Hung Nguyen out of poverty but also helped him choose his life partner, bringing him boundless happiness today. Because during the training and competition process at the center, Lam became acquainted with athlete Tran Thi Be. Both now share the same goals and enthusiasm to bring success to the road ahead.

Duc Anh